Division of systems engineering

Designed to equip the FRESCA2 testing station at CERN (Facility for the Reception of Superconducting Cables), the niobium-tin dipole magnet of the same name has reached a record 13.3 T magnetic field for a 100 mm aperture. It was designed and developed as part of a collaboration between IRFU and CERN. The objective is a magnetic-field homogeneity 1% over a length of 540 mm. 

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (Desi) will analyze the light emitted by 35 million galaxies and quasars at various times in the past of the Universe and up to 11 billion years to better understand dark energy. Its move into the construction phase in 2016 crowns several years of research and development that have resulted in a solid design and a credible observation strategy. Irfu, a partner in the project from the outset, has played a key role. A look back at a year that saw the project become a reality.

A new phase begins for DESI

For more than 10 years now, Irfu physicists and engineers have been developing in Saclay the necessary equipment for the GBAR experiment, designed to test the behaviour of antimatter under terrestrial gravity. An important step has just been taken with the installation at the Cern of a new positron source using on an electron linac, and the transport to the Cern of the positron trapping system built at Saclay.

The new source produced its first positrons on November 17, 2017. The installation of the traps is in progress, to be operational when the antiprotons arrive, scheduled for spring 2018.

The new-generation liquid argon detector used in the WA105 experiment at CERN has collected its first signals. This prototype is used in preparation of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) for neutrino observations on a mass scale, which is due to start in 2026 in the USA. This research involving IRFU aims, in particular, to shed light on the origin of matter and antimatter.